


The Drop Out

by realityisoverrated



Series: Infinite Love [32]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M, Polyamory, Polyfidelity, Smoaking billionaires, Toliver, flommy, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 00:44:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7131170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realityisoverrated/pseuds/realityisoverrated
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Becoming a parent has Oliver reflecting on his life and he makes a decision about his future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Drop Out

**Author's Note:**

> This story depicts a polyamorous relationship between one woman and two men. If this is not something you are interested in, please stop and go no further.
> 
> A little fluff after Saturday's installment. Thank you for all of your kudos, wonderful comments and thoughtful questions. 
> 
> I'm not telling this series in chronological order. Some readers have requested that I provide a chronological order for the fics in the series. There is no need to read them in chronological order, but in case you'd like to the list is below.  
> 1\. Beautiful Stranger (Part 28)  
> 2\. The First Time (Part 1)  
> 3\. The Italian Restaurant (Part 3)  
> 4\. Do The Hustle (Part 21)  
> 5\. Wherever You Are, There I Am (Part 8)  
> 6\. Perfect (Part 16)  
> 7\. Practical Jokes and Other Misunderstandings (Part 14)  
> 8\. Cobble Hill (Part 4)  
> 9\. House Warming (Part 15)  
> 10\. 30 (Part 30)  
> 11\. Twenty Questions Over Brunch (Part 11)  
> 12\. Hildy (Part 5)  
> 13\. Burgers & Lies (Part 9)  
> 14\. You Say You Want A Revolution (Part 22)  
> 15\. Look Me In The Eye And Make Me Feel The Truth (Part 12)  
> 16\. Fight Night (Part 20)  
> 17\. Into Thin Air (Part 17)  
> 18\. It’s Just Like Falling (Part 27)  
> 19\. Will You Still Love Me, Tomorrow? (Part 7)  
> 20\. Life With The Arrow (Part 23)  
> 21\. Up All Night (Part 6)  
> 22\. Welcome Home (Part 10)  
> 23\. Better Than Chocolate Chip Banana Pancakes (Part 24)  
> 24\. Home Is Where You Are (Part 2)  
> 25\. Somebody Get A Hammer (Part 26)  
> 26\. Three (Part 13)  
> 27\. Life Lived In The Tabloids (Part 18)  
> 28\. Tokyo Calling (Part 25)  
> 29\. Prudence Chastity (Part 19)  
> 30\. The Drop Out (Part 32)  
> 31\. William (Part 29)  
> 32\. Hold On For One More Day (Part 31)
> 
> Welcome to any new readers who have stumbled into this universe. The more the merrier.
> 
> Arrow and its characters do not belong to me.

Artwork by Lademonessa

 

There were a lot of things Oliver was ashamed of about his life before the Gambit – drugs, alcohol, infidelities and the way he treated Tommy. However, he’d never been ashamed of dropping out of four colleges. Feelings of inadequacy – absolutely, but never shame. It wasn’t until he’d decided to leave his role as the CEO of QC to devote himself full time to the Queen Foundation that he began to feel ashamed. The Queen Foundation provided college scholarships and Oliver had taken to reading the essays written by all of the applicants. The stories these young people told about perseverance and overcoming their circumstances and their desire to obtain a better life through higher education made his cheeks flame with shame. He hadn’t even tried to get into the schools he dropped out of. The Queen name and a large donation were all it took for Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Starling University to grant him admittance. He never worried about tuition or how much money he wasted by getting high instead of going to class. There was nothing wrong with not having a college degree, he knew college wasn’t the right fit for everyone. He wasn’t ashamed of only having a high school education. He was ashamed of wasting the opportunities he’d taken for granted.

Felicity was propped up on an intricate arrangement of pillows as she nursed their one-month old son. Too much internet research had filled her with irrational worry that she’d be unable to nurse before Bobby was born. As she sat in her hospital bed holding Bobby and waiting for the lactation nurse to arrive she’d voiced her concerns again. Tommy reassured her that any son of theirs would have no problem latching onto a breast – his fathers were boob men, after all. The comment earned him an eye roll but it also succeeded in making Felicity relax. Tommy turned out to be right. Bobby had taken to her breast almost immediately and he was a voracious eater.

The sound of his son feeding from Felicity’s breast did something to Oliver. Bobby’s little snuffles of contentment made his heart swell with love for both his wife and child. Bobby held Oliver’s finger in his little fist as Tommy stroked the top of his mop of dark hair. It had been an amazing month and they’d been incredibly lucky to be able to spend all of it at home with their new son. Tommy and Oliver were a little jealous that they weren’t able to feed their son, but Felicity was concerned about nipple confusion. She was reluctant to introduce a bottle to Bobby before she returned to work at the end of her maternity leave. Supportive of her decision, the guys still wanted to be a part of his feedings. The four of them in their bed had quickly become the favorite part of Oliver’s day. Sometimes they would speak softly to one another, but mostly they either watched their son in silence or spoke to him about how much they loved him.

Becoming a dad had made Oliver want to be a better man. Fighting crime and doing charitable works weren’t enough. He wanted to be an example to his son. He wanted his son to know that his father didn’t waste the second chances given to him. Bobby was going to be raised in a household with more wealth than either of the homes Oliver and Tommy grew up in and both men were determined that their son wouldn’t be anything like they were.

Tommy hummed a soft lullaby and Oliver smiled as their son’s eyes became heavy. Even as he fell asleep he continued to suckle which made Oliver chortle. Felicity looked up at Oliver and smiled, “If he keeps eating like this he’ll be six feet tall by kindergarten.”

Oliver leaned over and kissed the bottoms of Bobby’s feet, “It’s hard to believe that anything could be this small. It’s even harder to believe that he won’t stay like this forever.”

Bobby let go of Felicity’s nipple and Oliver eagerly took him from her after he put a burp cloth over his shoulder. He held Bobby against his bare chest and rubbed his back. Tommy and Oliver took turns holding Bobby after his feedings. It felt appropriate to Oliver that Bobby’s dads were in charge of burping.

Felicity had settled against her pillows and Tommy had shifted so he was propped up on his elbow. Felicity ran her fingers through Tommy’s wild curls, “You need a haircut.”

“I like his hair this length,” Oliver said truthfully. He wasn’t sure if it was his hair or how happy Tommy had been since Bobby’s birth, but Tommy suddenly looked like the boy Oliver fell for as a teenager.

“Will it make both of you happy if I go in for a trim and just have her shape it?” Tommy grinned as he offered them a compromise.

“Do you like it this length?” Felicity asked. “You should wear it however you want.”

Tommy smiled, “I’m just grateful to still have a full head of hair.”

Felicity’s eyes softened, “You were still handsome bald.”

Tommy noticed Oliver’s brow furrow at Felicity’s reference to their time held by the League, “I don’t think Oliver agrees.”

Oliver kissed the top of Bobby’s head, “You’re always handsome.” He looked at his husband and grinned, “I just like having something to hold onto when I’m kissing you.”

“I guess I better never go bald,” Tommy said with a wink.

“I want to go back to school,” Oliver blurted out.

“What?” Tommy asked.

“That’s great,” Felicity said at the same time.

Oliver suddenly felt nervous, “I would like to apply to Starling University for the summer semester. My application is due next week, but I want to make sure that you’re both okay with it. I know it may not be ideal with a new baby at home. Between the four schools, I actually have two semesters worth of credits. I didn’t actually remember passing so many classes.”

“Of course we’re okay with it,” Felicity’s face was lit up by a huge smile. “What are you going to major in? Business?”

Oliver wrinkled his nose at the thought of majoring in business, “I was thinking sociology or political science.”

Felicity’s eyes went wide with excitement, “Oh, you could double major.”

He laughed, “Easy there. I’m not even sure I can handle one major.”

“You could minor in Russian or Mandarin. You’re already fluent,” Felicity teased gently.

“I think Anatoly and Tatsu would disagree,” Oliver laughed at the thought of his friends hearing anyone call him fluent.

Felicity rubbed her hands together, “This is exciting. I love reading course catalogs. It will be so much fun helping you pick out classes.” She practically bounced with excitement, “Oh, I can read whatever you’re reading and we can discuss it.”

Oliver smiled at her enthusiasm. He leaned into her and gave her a chaste kiss, “Thank you. That would be nice.” As he sat back up he realized Tommy appeared to be lost in thought. “You’ve been awfully quiet.”

“Hmmm?” Tommy asked as his eyes refocused. “Sorry, college, yeah, it’s a good idea.”

“It doesn’t seem like you think it’s a good idea.” Oliver was a little hurt that Tommy wasn’t more encouraging. “If you’re worried it means I’ll be around less, don’t. I’m only going to take one or two classes to start.”

Tommy smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes, “I’m not worried.”

“All I know is that you don’t seem happy,” Oliver felt a little wounded by Tommy’s disinterest.

Felicity squeezed his thigh, “Oliver, he said it was a good idea.”

Oliver gave her an incredulous look. She knew Tommy well enough to know that he might’ve said it, but he didn’t mean it. He locked eyes with his husband, “You want to tell me what you’re really thinking or am I going to have to guess?”

Tommy narrowed his eyes, “What’s this about, Ollie?”

“What? You don’t think I can do it?” Oliver accused.

“Of course you can do it. You could’ve done it back then too, but you were too busy trying to prove to your dad that you were a screw up.”

“Then why are you giving me the look?”

Tommy sighed, “I’m not giving you, the look.”

“I’ve been getting, the look, for almost thirty-five years. I know it when I see it.”

“First, I didn’t have to start giving you, the look, until middle school. You didn’t become an idiot until puberty. Second, I’m not giving you, the look.”

Felicity hid a smile behind her hand.

“So, why are you giving me, not the look?”

“You have nothing to prove, you know that, right?” Tommy said gently. “If you want to go back to school, I’ll support you. I’m okay if you want to go back full time. I just want you to do this because you want to do this and not because you feel like you have to prove something. Our son will love you and be proud of you with or without a college degree.”

Before the Gambit, whether he realized it or not his main motivation in life was to show everyone the worst in himself. If he was always disappointing his parents, Laurel and Tommy no one would ever expect him to be his best. “I want to go back for me, but you’re right about wanting to prove something to our son. I want him to know that it’s never too late to fix a mistake. I could’ve graduated before the Gambit but I was so angry with my parents that flunking out was the only way that I knew that I could hurt them. Stories in the tabloids about me getting drunk or high didn’t get their attention but front page stories of Ollie Queen flunking out of school always did. It was something their army of lawyers and all of their money and influence couldn’t fix. Being a failure and a source of disappointment was something I could control. I wasted so much time and at my own expense. I don’t want our son to make the same mistake. One day he’s going to see everything that was written about me. I want him to know that change is possible.”

“That’s my point, Ollie,” Tommy climbed over Felicity to sit next to Oliver. “Your whole life you’ve done things, good and bad, for other people. Do this for yourself. Not because you’re trying to prove something to me or to Felicity or even to this little guy. I know you can do anything you set your mind to, even school. I just want you to do it for you. Prove it to yourself, not to anyone else.”

“I want to go back to school for me. I want to know that I can do it.”

“That’s all I wanted to hear.” Tommy gave Oliver a quick peck on the lips, “I’ll pack you a lunch every day.”

Felicity sat up, “I think my N-Sync lunch box is in the attic. I’ll lend it to you.”

“Justin always was my favorite,” Oliver grinned.

“Liar,” Tommy said seriously, “you always liked JC.”

“He was good on the Mickey Mouse Club,” Oliver said defensively.

Felicity got out of bed, “I’m taking a shower before we seriously have this debate.”

Oliver leaned back against the pillows and cradled their sleeping son in his arms. Tommy moved to lay against Oliver’s other side. Tommy reached across Oliver to place his hand on their son’s back. Oliver used his free arm to wrap around Tommy. “Thank you,” he said softly.

Tommy looked up at him, “For what?”

“Loving me the way you do.”

Tommy shrugged one shoulder and looked back at their son, “It’s the only way I know how.”

Oliver trailed a finger across Tommy’s shoulder blades, “Even so, thank you.”

Tommy laughed. When Oliver squeezed his shoulder silently asking for the reason he was laughing, Tommy said, “There are going to be some disappointed co-eds when they realize Oliver Queen is a married father this time around.”

“Forget married with a child, I’ll be old,” Oliver laughed.

“I resemble that remark. Thirty-five isn’t that old,” Tommy grumbled good-naturedly.

Oliver kissed the top of Tommy’s head, “I don’t think our twenty-year-old selves would’ve agreed.”

“What did they know?” Tommy traced their son’s cheek with his finger, “They were idiots.”

Oliver hummed in agreement.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are always welcomed and appreciated. Hearing from you is my favorite part of the day.
> 
> Any ideas or prompts for what you'd like to read in this universe are always welcome. You have been sharing some great ideas - please keep them coming.
> 
> On another note, I launched my new Olicity fic, The Sword and The Shield, under my other author name - wordscreatereality. If you are so inclined, I'd love for you to join me on this season 3 rewrite. Chapter 3 will be posted on Sunday. http://archiveofourown.org/works/7008718/chapters/15959470


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